I was so proud of the generosity of my co-workers at the Community Foundation when I recently helped to deliver Christmas gifts for our adopted family to Santa’s shop at the Boys and Girls Brigade in Neenah.

When we pulled up in front of the Brigade and opened the back end of my overflowing Jeep, the volunteers came out to help unload. Their eyes were opened wide.

They thought perhaps our carload of goodies was from a large employer like Kimberly-Clark. No, we explained, we were from the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region.

Their next question was how many families were we bringing gifts for.  Just one family.  Wider eyes.  Were all these gifts from a fund within the Community Foundation? No, they were provided by our staff.  Effusive thanks.

Next, we were invited in for a tour of the inner workings of Santa’s workshop at the Brigade. Now it was our eyes that opened wide.  There was a room, about the size of a small gymnasium, organized into areas of table after table of donated items.  We saw tables of toys, sporting goods, clothing and diapers.  There were volunteers walking from table to table filling boxes for families that had not been adopted by anyone.

As of Dec. 8, 278 families had been served by the Adopt a Family program at Boys and Girls Brigade, including 675 children.

Thank you. Boys and Girls Brigade, for your good work.

Linda Hansen is a Development and Donor Services Associate. Email her at [email protected].